KEALAKEKUA — The start was slow for Konawaena. The rest was not.
The Wildcats used five touchdown passes from sophomore quarterback Austin Ewing and a convincing shutout performance from its defense to knock off Honokaa 36-0 in a BIIF Division II semifinal matchup at Julian R. Yates field on Friday.
“This win helps fulfill what our expectations were at the beginning of the year and gets us closer to our goal,” Konawaena head coach Brad Uemoto said. “We just want to be healthy and playing our best football coming into next week.”
In his first playoff start, Ewing finished 11-of-19 for 272 yards and the season-high five touchdown passes. Micah Laban did the majority of running for the Wildcats, posting 58 of the Wildcats’ 62 total rushing yards. Paka Cacoulidis led the defense with nine tackles, sophomore Michael Banagan-Brock added eight.
Konawaena will play the winner of Saturday’s semifinal matchup between No. 3 Hawaii Preparatory Academy and No. 2 Kamehameha-Hawaii. Regardless of the winner, the top seeded Wildcat’s fifth consecutive championship appearance will be played at home on Friday, Oct. 23.
Kamehameha-Hawaii is favored entering its matchup against Hawaii Prep, having beat Ka Makani 45-0 a week ago. The Wildcats aren’t shying off from the prospects of facing the only team to beat them this season, but this time on their home turf.
“Kamehameha is the only blemish on our record and I know the boys are hungry,” Uemoto said.
Despite a chaotic week — which included a half-dozen players getting kicked off the roster in a cyberbullying incident — Honokaa came out with energy and a new-look starting offense. Jonathan Charbonneau got the nod at quarterback and Nainoa Falk — the former starting QB — at running back. Assisted by some penalties, the offense had some moderate success moving the ball early, but never threatened to score.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats couldn’t get much going, but got some help from multi-talented playmaker Cameron Howes. The senior sparked the Wildcats with an 80-yard interception return inside the Honokaa 1-yard line. The return would be called back, but it gave Konawaena the ball and an opportunity.
Ewing and the offense didn’t take long to capitalize. On the second play after the turnover, Ewing found Kupono Kane over the middle of the field, and he sprinted 51 yards untouched for the score.
“It was an odd week with everything that was going on,” Uemoto said. “I think it showed right off the bat, but Cameron’s interception really changed everything. It got the crowd involved and we got that pep back in our step. We got back to playing our football again.”
From there, the Wildcats put up points in a fast and furious manner.
Big play Konawaena receiver Kamakana Ching broke out of his coverage and made a fingertip catch on a perfectly floated ball by Ewing for a 48-yard score.
Just a few minutes later, Tristan Fleming-Nazara got in on the action. Ewing found his 6-foot-2 hybrid tight end/wide receiver sitting wide open in the middle of the field for a 26-yard touchdown strike.
Ching caught another touchdown before the half, and the Wildcats entered the break with a comfortable 27-0 lead.
After missing on five of his first six passes for just eight yards, Ewing finished the half connecting on 7-of-9 passes for 161 yards and four touchdowns.
Ewing added a 60-yard strike to Howes in the third quarter, but it would be the only highlight of a messy second half that featured mostly backups and was marred by penalties and fumbles.
A safety forced by Konawaena linebacker Kysaiah Self with less than four minutes to go forced a running clock.
Honokaa finishes their season at 2-8, but showed heart in its final game of 2015. Despite the hoopla leading up causing a distraction for both teams, the contest was played without any major incidents.
“I think the focus for us was going out there and playing with class,” Uemoto said. “At the end of the day, we all just want to be good sports.”
Honokaa 0 0 0 0 — 0
Konawaena 7 20 7 2 — 36
First quarter
Konawaena — Kupono Kane 51-yard reception from Austin Ewing (kick good) 3:20
Second quarter
Konawaena — Kamakana Ching 48-yard reception from Ewing (kick good) 11:50
Konawaena — Tristan Fleming-Nazara 26-yard reception from Ewing (kick failed) 10:12
Konawaena — Ching 15-yard reception from Ewing (kick good) 5:45
Third quarter
Konawaena — Cameron Howes 60-yard reception from Ewing (kick good) 6:35
Fourth quarter
Konawaena — Kysaiah Self tackle for safety